xi, 215 pages ; 24 cm

Harmonious Perfection, The Development of English Studies in Nineteenth Century Anglo-Canadian Colleges is a wide ranging analysis of the cultural forces that shaped the emerging English studies curriculum in late nineteenth century Anglo-Canadian colleges and universities. Henry Hubert argues that among the greatest influences on this development was a strong sense of the "Ideal" derived from attachments to Britain inspired by the United Empire Loyalists' examples and the War of 1812. Classical strategies and models, he argues, gradually were set aside in preference for a historical range that swept from Anglo-Saxon writers to late Victorian poets

Hubert probes Scottish and English educational and religious traditions that were imported into the new nation and then characterizes the evolution of the English curriculum at eight Canadian schools from 1853 to the end of the century. He concludes with a review of their legacies as they bear on twentieth-century attitudes regarding liberal studies in Canada. In short, Henry Hubert has undertaken a formidable and original inquiry into the history of ideas with this remarkable discussion of higher education's development in Victorian Canada. For the reader, Harmonious Perfection provides a context for understanding the complex forces that shaped Anglo-Canadian higher education and for undertaking further deliberations on the consciousness of culture

Based on the author's thesis (Ph. D., University of British Columbia)

Includes bibliographical references (pages 189-203) and index

1. Scottish and English Traditions: Democracy vs. Elitism -- 2. Religious Affiliations and the Rhetorical Curriculum in British North America, 1800-1853 -- 3. English Studies in Victorian Britain -- 4. Anglo-Canadian Developments, 1853-1884 -- 5. Specialization, Idealism and British Literature in Canada: 1884-1900

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